Glow Sticks and Fireflies
by Secretly-A-Fangirl
Summary: She looked about ready to cry until Dean cradled her closer to his chest, then her eyes drifted closed and he finds himself falling in love. "Dean," Cas smiles, sitting on the arm of the chair to run his fingers through Dean's dark blonde hair," meet our daughter, Hope Michelle Winchester." Destiel, Sabriel, AH.
1. Falling in Love

It amazed Dean how much patience his husband had at times like this, when everyone else would be pulling out their hair and pacing around to relieve nervous energy. Not Cas, though, he was just sitting in the waiting room, a book of baby names opened in his lap with a few sticky notes visible from pages they'd already gone through. Dean knew the contents of those sticky notes well—names they had agreed on, the meanings of those names, and middle names that would sound good with it. Still, their baby was being born and they still hadn't decided on a permanent one. He supposed he should be over their helping Cas out, but he didn't want to think about anything right now other than all the work he still needed to do in order to have the nursery ready.

The walls were a pale yellow since they didn't like the look of pinks or blues in the room, the crib was only half put together and that's only because Sam had come over to help, and the changing table was held together with duct tape until they could find all the screws that had scattered when Gabriel had opened their package. It was the moment of truth and Dean was almost ready to fall apart then and there. How could he take care of a baby when he couldn't even keep a plant alive for more than two weeks—a cactus at that.

Sure, he'd raised his baby brother after their parents had died, but Sam was eight by then and could support his own damn head. Would he even make a good dad or would he be like those ones that you see on the news? Oh God, what if he went postal after three nights with no sleep? He wouldn't do well in jail, he was too pretty! He'd gotten himself so worked up that he hadn't noticed Cas moving until the younger man had a hand on Dean's shoulder, Dean nearly jumping right out of his skin at the unexpected contact.

A hand over his heart, he turns to look at his husband and finds himself lost in those big blue eyes of his. Cas's hand was warm and the man smelled like honey and aftershave, all of that calming Dean somewhat but not stopping his hands from shaking. Now, Dean had expected some sympathy from the man about to be stranded in the same boat as himself, but instead all Dean got was two words he wasn't ready to hear. "She's here."

"What," he asks, hoping he'd heard things wrong.

"The baby's here and we need to go give the nurse her name." But Dean was still working through the whole 'baby's here' part because he knew labor shouldn't have passed that quickly. Hell, it took his mom a God awful long time to push out Sammy, but the surrogate had only been in her room for a few short hours. In a daze, Dean allows Cas to pull him into the private room they'd paid for. The surrogate was already fast asleep in her bed and a nurse, unaware that Dean wasn't able to process simple things yet, settled a squirming pink thing in his arms.

He sits quickly in the only armchair, making sure the thing's head wasn't flopping around as he stared down at it. No, not it, _her_. He was holding a tiny baby girl that he would get to help raise. He supposed she was a beautiful baby, but she was still a little wrinkly and her nose was all scrunched up. She looked about ready to cry until Dean cradled her closer to his chest, then her eyes drifted closed and he finds himself falling in love.

"Dean," Cas smiles, sitting on the arm of the chair to run his fingers through Dean's dark blonde hair," meet our daughter, Hope Michelle Winchester."


	2. Daddy's Hope

Dean was used to a certain amount of order in his life, but he hasn't had a lot of that since they brought Hope home from the hospital yesterday. He swears that his daughter's only hobbies were staying up all night and creating toxic fumes that could put Mustard Gas to shame. It didn't help that his brother and Gabriel lived right next door. So when he came home from work that evening, Dean was expecting complete chaos.

His brother and Cas were in the kitchen, arguing over who would cook what for Thanksgiving dinner in seventeen days. Gabriel was struggling to install the new flat screen, and Shiloh was playing with a Whoopi-cushion Gabriel had brought in. The only one missing was Dean's little princess. Given that she was only three days old, she was probably napping in her crib or Cas had laid her down in there to have a bit of peace.

Before his brother-in-law could rope him into helping, Dean disappears into the nursery. Hope was lying in her crib, staring up in wonder at the slow spinning mobile hanging above it. He picks her up and settles down in the armchair, Hope lying on his chest with her ear pressed over his heart. She never really fussed when he held her like this, the chair reclined so both of them would be comfortable. Even in the hospital, it was Dean that would be called in to help calm her down after feedings.

He watches her as she watches the passing headlights outside the window, her little tongue peeking out as her fingers grip the fabric of Dean's plaid work shirt. "Shiloh, no," he heard Sam yelling followed by a loud crash and a string of curses. At only three years old, Sam and Gabriel's son aimed to misbehave. Dean only prayed that Hope would stay sweet and loving forever. The loud noises in the other room has Hope's lower lip trembling.

"No," Dean soothes, rubbing her back. "Daddy's got you, it's okay." At the soft tone of his voice, Hope began to relax against him. "That's right, Princess, you're safe with me." As her eyes began to close and the drama unfolded in the living room, Dean felt at home.


	3. Thanksgiving Chaos

At seventeen days old, Dean and Hope were both crying most of the night—the three hours of sleep they got the only exception. They've been up most of the night, Dean forcing Cas to stay in bed because he started back to work the next day, and Hope was just as upset as Dean was about it all. It didn't help that she'd gotten used to Cas being the one to take care of her at night since Dean's job was more demanding, but Dean had taken a two-week vacation to try and get Hope on a schedule. So far, all it was doing was giving him a migraine.

"Come on, Princess, we both need some sleep before everyone gets here to start cooking," he mumbles to her as he lies back on the couch. It was only five in the morning, Cas was walking out the door, and Dean was trying to remember why adoption was such a great idea seventeen days ago. Sure, Hope's adorable as hell and those little dimples could've been put there by angels, but she was always so angry at night.

Just as Hope's crying reached a fever pitch, Sammy walks inside with Shiloh in his arms. He looked as tired as Dean was as he settled on the floor with his back against the couch and the three year old sleeping in his lap. "Long night?"

"Oh yeah, only got three hours of sleep."

"Lucky, I got two and a half." This was their routine lately, Sam would come over and they would complain about how lousy their sleep schedule was thanks to their children. At least Shy is getting better about sleeping in his own bed, but Hope seemed to only sleep well when she was snuggled right up against Cas or knowing her cousin was nearby.

"Hey, Shiloh doesn't look so hot." The toddler's cheeks were flushed a dark red and he looked to be shivering.

"It's like five degrees outside, Dean."

"Well, you wanna head into the nursery and see if our little experiment works for a third time?"

"God yes." Both men rise carefully with their children, Shiloh beginning to whimper and wake up again. Sam lays Shiloh down in the small racecar bed near the crib, cover Shiloh up and brushing his reddish-brown hair off his face while Dean laid Hope down in the crib, covering her with the light blanket that they had spritzed with some of Cas's cologne. Once she caught a whiff of the cologne, Hope closed her eyes and let out a small happy coo—Shiloh falling fast asleep when he notices where he is.

Once they were sure the kids were sound asleep, the men disappear into the living room, Dean taking up his place in the armchair and Sammy finding his spot on the couch. Not five minutes later, both were snoring loudly and that's where they stayed until it was time for Thanksgiving dinner. The first thing Dean saw upon waking—Balthazar dancing aside—was a poster board decorated with glitter and photos. Several of the photos were pictures of the two kids, but one had shouting for Gabriel.

It was a picture of Sam and Dean, drooling.


End file.
